The AI-LegalTools chair explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the legal professions through the development and evaluation of tools capable of automating complex legal reasoning. The project aims to understand how AI can support—rather than replace—human intelligence in judicial tasks such as document drafting, legal argumentation, and decision prediction.
The chair is based on a collaboration between experts in law, statistics, computer science, and psychology. It brings together three research laboratories at Université Grenoble Alpes (CRJ, TIMC, LIG), one private partner (Ordalie.ai), and two legal institutions (ENM and the Grenoble Court of Appeal).
Research focuses on four main challenges: (1) modeling complex legal reasoning and predicting judicial decisions using statistical and NLP techniques; (2) developing AI tools to assist professionals in drafting legal documents; (3) evaluating AI’s ability to generate coherent legal reasoning; and (4) studying the influence of AI tools on legal decision-making.
The project incorporates a strong ethical dimension, including transparency, explainability, and environmental sustainability. It also develops training programs for students, legal professionals, and educators on AI tools and their implications for legal practice
ACTIVITIES
The project will recruit a Ph.D. student (CIFRE thesis in collaboration with Ordalie) and two postdocs. It also includes internships for master’s students and will involve regular collaboration with legal professionals. A major focus is placed on interdisciplinary workshops, tool prototyping, legal data analysis, and the development of evaluation benchmarks. An AI Week and new academic courses on legal AI are planned and will begin in September 2025.
Organized by the Faculty of Law at Université Grenoble Alpes, the first edition of IA Week will take place from September 17 to 19, 2025, on the Saint-Martin-d’Hères campus (Language Center, Université Grenoble Alpes).
Aimed at students and legal professionals, the event will feature a series of conferences, a legal tech fair, and a hands-on testing center for legal AI tools, with workshops led by approximately fifteen legal publishers and legal tech companies.
SELECTED LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
G. Vial and E. Vergès, “Artificial Intelligence and Judicial Reasoning—From Understanding to the Generation of Reasoning by AI,” in the special issue “Judicial AI: Between Innovation and Risk,” *Les Cahiers de la Justice* 2025, No. 2, pp. 205–221.
C. Bazzoli, E. Vergès, and G. Vial, “Modeling Judicial Decisions Based on the Facts—How AI Mimics Judges’ Reasoning Using a Set of Criteria,” *La Semaine juridique*, special issue, “Exploring and Anticipating Judges’ Reasoning with AI,” supplement to No. 6, Feb. 10, 2025.
C. Bazzoli, M. Coavoux, O. Vaudaux, E. Vergès, and G. Vial, “Artificial Intelligence vs. Human Intelligence—How the Human Mind Predicts Judges’ Decisions,” La Semaine juridique, special issue, “Exploring and Anticipating Judges’ Reasoning with AI,” supplement to No. 6, Feb. 10, 2025.
C. Bazzoli, M. Coavoux, O. Vaudaux, E. Vergès, and G. Vial, “Natural Language Processing as a Tool for Predicting Judicial Decisions—A Step Toward Bridging the Gap Between Dream and Reality,” *La Semaine juridique*, special issue, “Exploring and Anticipating Judges’ Reasoning with AI,” supplement to No. 6, Feb. 10, 2025.
G. Vial and E. Vergès, “Toward Artificial Legal Intelligence: How AI Is Transforming the Legal Professions,” Lexbase Avocats, 2024.
CHAIR PRESENTATION
License:
Unless otherwise stated, all documents are shared under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
You may view and share them for non-commercial purposes, without modification, and with appropriate credit to the authors.
Published on October 13, 2026 Updated on October 13, 2026
Core members
Géraldine Vial,
Caroline Bazzoli,
Maximin Coavoux (CR CNRS-LIG UGA),
Étienne Vergès (Professor of Private Law, UGA)
Associate members
E. Gindre, N. Lionet-Przygodzki, National School for the Judiciary, Grenoble Court of Appeals,
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Caroline Bazzoli, 
